Lucerne as an alternative protein source in southwest England: a Demo Farm perspective

Bijeenkomst: EGF2015
Auteur: Evans C. and McConnell D.A.
ISBN: 978-9090-289-61-8
Jaar van uitgifte: 2015
Producttype: Paper
Lucerne (Medicago sativa) remains a widely grown forage crop globally. In Great Britain however, its use has been restricted by crop establishment challenges. With global demand for protein continuing to rise, the European dairy sector is tasked with increasing the use of home-grown protein forages. In 2013 the British Grassland Society and DairyCo embarked on the three-year-long Demo Farms project, whereby selected findings from the DairyCo-funded Grass, Forage and Soils research partnership involving a number of UK universities could be transferred to farmers via a network of trials and events on commercial farms. In 2014 a high-output dairy farm in southwest England in its second year of growing lucerne joined the project, providing knowledge exchange opportunities around the use of home-grown lucerne to reduce purchased protein costs and improve farm business scale efficiency. This paper explores the strategies employed at the demo farm growing and feeding the crop to date, and the farm’s use as a knowledge exchange mechanism.